Will the Mavericks Re-Sign DeShawn Stevenson?

I have no clue if they will, but Stevenson’s agent seems to think so. From ESPN: “Mark Bartelstein, agent for down-and-dirty shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who proved himself as being resilient, a hard-edged defender and quite capable of draining big 3-pointers on a championship squad, said he spoke to [Donnie] Nelson after the Mavs traded for shooting guard Rudy Fernandez on draft night, a move that, on the surface, said good-bye to Stevenson, an unrestricted free agent. ‘I spoke to Donnie after the trade and he said that’s not the case at all,’ Bartelstein said. ‘He made it very clear that he’s somebody they want back.’ (All talks between teams, players and agents ceased on July 1 when the collective bargaining agreement expired and the lockout started) The trade for Fernandez put the number of players on the Mavs’ 15-man roster at 16. It boosted the number of shooting guards on the roster to five and those who can play the position to seven. Six players on the roster are free agents, including Bartelstein client Brian Cardinal. Dallas has close to $62 million locked up in players under contract for 2011-12. They dearly want to re-sign free agents Tyson Chandler (who won’t come cheaply) and Caron Butler, with J.J. Barea and Stevenson also having increased their value with strong postseasons. And, of course, no one knows what the salary cap parameters will be once a new collective bargaining agreement is enacted. So the question regarding Stevenson has never really if the Mavs want to re-sign him, but rather can they afford to?”